10.5: A tip on location-based Smart Folders in 10.5

Feb 08, '08 07:30:03AM

Contributed by: clindahl

After installing Leopard, I noticed a missing feature with Smart Folders: I didn't see any GUI-based method for changing the location (path) for the Smart Folder function. In Tiger, there's an "Other" button in the toolbar which allowed for the specification of a path -- but that was removed in Leopard.

After some digging, though, I realized the problem: I was using the File » New Smart Folder menu item to build my searches. Using the menu item, the only options for search location are the computer, the user's home folder, and the Shared folder. However, if I use File » Find (Command-F) instead, then the Smart Search comes up with default search locations of the computer, the currently-selected Finder folder, and the Shared folder.

So in order to search a specified location in Leopard with Smart Folders, you must use Command-F to start the search; the menu item is basically useless. Just make sure you're in the folder you want to search before you press Command-F.

[robg adds: I've never actually used the New Smart Folder menu item in 10.5. I checked, though, and the author's right, which makes me wonder when the menu item would ever be useful. Also, the disappearance of the Others button means you can't make a Smart Search that searches more than one folder at a time. (In 10.4, you could use the Others button to include multiple folders in one search.) If you can think of any way to replicate this behavior in 10.5, please post in the comments.]

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